Fabregas calls for ruthlessness

Jose Mourinho's side extended their lead at the top of the table to seven points by beating West Brom 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Diego Costa and Eden Hazard were on target in the first half before Albion midfielder Claudio Yacob was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Costa.

Chelsea were outstanding before the break as they cut the visiting defence open at ease, with Ben Foster making some fine saves to keep the scoreline respectable.

The home side were also guilty of wasteful finishing and Spain midfielder Fabregas has urged them to be more clinical.

He told the club's official website: "I don't think I am exaggerating if I don't remember playing and enjoying a football match as much as I did personally in the first half.

"We played outstanding football. It is always difficult after internationals because the team doesn't have time to work on many things and prepare [for] the game but I enjoyed it a lot, particularly the first 45 minutes.

"Some people who didn't watch the game will think 2-0, it was just an okay game but it was much more than that. It was a beautiful performance, very consistent, a clean sheet. We created plenty of chances and we had control of the game.

"That is why I think we need to be more effective in front of goal and score more goals and send an even bigger message to our opponents."

Chelsea will take some stopping following their ominous start to the season, but former Barcelona man Fabregas knows it is too early to be talking about winning the title.

"We know it is a long way to go and we don't look at all the comments from TV, press or fans because if you start looking at it now, everyone will think that Chelsea has already won the title and it is not like that," he added.

"We are professionals and some of us have been playing these type of competitions for a very long time and we have only played a few games really [this season]. It is a long way to go and we still have to do better than that.

"I don't compare us with any other big sides because we haven't won anything, this is just the beginning.

"Everyone is talking well about Chelsea now, how great we are, and then you lose two games they will talk about how bad we are. We have been long enough in football not to fall into this trap and to just keep going the way we want to achieve things."